Dominican Republic Facts

Located in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic is the second largest and most diverse Carribean country. Becoming one of fastest economic growth areas, the Dominican Republic is host to major industries such as mining, agricultural exports and tourism. Discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, the country overflows with fascinating history, museums and exciting culture. The country has a population of over 9 million, a growing infrastructure of major highways, major telecommunications companies, busy seaports and network of domestic and international airports.

Investing in the Dominican Republic

"With the largest economy in Central America and the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic is known for its positive attitude towards foreign investments. According to the World Bank, the Dominican Republic was ranked as the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) recipient in the Caribbean in 2012" (source: Dominican Republic official website http://www.godominicanrepublic.com"). Mining is a growing industry in the Dominican Republic, with large mining companies such as Barrick Gold maintaining corporate offices and operations in the country.

Airports and Seaports

The Dominican Republic has a network of over 30 airports, 8 of which are international airports. It is just a 2 hour flight from Miami, 4 hours from Toronto and New York, and 8 hours from most European countries. There are approximately 70 daily flights to the Canada, USA & Europe, making the Dominican Republic a desirable location to do business, and a top destination for travel. Several seaports are located in the country that are used for commercial shipping and cruise ship tourism ports.

Communications

The Dominican Republic is considered one of the countries with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in Latin America, with over 8.9 million cell phones connected and large companies like Claro and Orange on the telecommunications market. Broadband Internet access is growing, with over 622,931 Internet accounts globally and 3,851,278 Internet users as of December, 2010 according to INDOTEL (source: Dominican Republic Telecommunications Institute).

Growing Infrastructure

The Dominican Republic has a large network of roads connecting towns and tourist destinations around the country. In the last 10 years the government of the Dominican Republic has put increased effort in renovating and improving the nationwide road infrastructure to improve connections of the interior of the country to Santo Domingo. This has successfully improved the quality of the main eight highways of the Dominican Republic. Expansion, widening, tunnels, and elevated viaduct have all been methods used by the Dominican authorities to increase the efficiency of the main arteries of the country. In 2009 a new modern Metro subway service was built in Santo Domingo.

World-Class Tourism

The Dominican Republic is a top destination for tourism, with the world’s top beaches, resorts and hotels, and a variety of sports, recreation and entertainment options. Among the DR's variety of sports and recreation, baseball is the Dominican's national sport, with stadiums located in major cities like Santo Domingo and Santiago.